Just Cause or Impediment
by Kimmeth
Summary: What if Alice and Jasper had been the first members of Carlisle's family? How could Alice's foresight have helped on, say, Esme's wedding day? An alternate way in which Carlisle found Esme again... Esme's POV, AU. One-Shot.


What if Alice and Jasper had been the first members of Carlisle's family? How could Alice's foresight have helped on, say, Esme's wedding day? An alternate way in which Carlisle found Esme again... Esme's POV, AU.

**Disclaimer: **I own nada but the idea. This was inspired by many things, most notably 'The Abbey Grange' from 'The Return of Sherlock Holmes' by Arthur Conan Doyle. If you read it you'll think 'What? How on earth did she get this from that?' but it made sense in my head.

This was one of those ideas that pops into your head fully formed and will not leave until you write it...

* * *

**Just Cause or Impediment**

I woke with a start, unable to place quite what had dragged me so suddenly from my dream. Perhaps I should have been thankful for the disturbance, since the visions of my slumber were hardly appropriate. I knew it was not unusual for a girl to dream of her wedding night, especially on the eve of her marriage, no matter how much our prudish mothers may disapprove. _A lady should not think to enjoy such things_;my mother had told me when I had ventured to ask her what I should expect from my union. _She should accept it as a necessary chore and take comfort in the children that will result_. I smiled wryly in the darkness. No, it was not the act of my dream that was worrying me. It was my partner in it. It should have been my future husband.

It was not.

I had awaited the return of Dr Cullen for the past five years, hoping and praying that, against all the odds, he would remember me, come back for me, and take me away from my stifled life here in Columbus. There had been something different about him, something magical almost. I had always privately scoffed at the idea of love at first sight, but that was only until I met him. All my preconceived notions were swept away by his effortlessly caring manner, his mesmerising eyes, and his smile... In those too brief moments that we shared, I knew that he would be the only one that I could ever love, and I almost had myself convinced that he returned my feelings. Then he was gone, vanished, and I had dreamed of him ever since. Tonight was no exception, although I had never thought of him so _intimately_ before. I had never dreamed of his lips on mine, of his cold – extraordinary cold – fingertips on my skin...

I sat bolt upright, fully alert, and for the first time, fearful. The cold touch had been so real, too real; the brush of ice against my forehead had been the cause of my waking. I squinted through the darkness of the room, looking for the form that was now so familiar to me.

"Doctor?" I whispered, barely audible above a breath. It was foolish to hope, I knew that. What would he be doing in my bedroom anyway? No, I was alone, but the memory of that cold touch was so shockingly real.

My eyes flickered to the open window. Maybe, just maybe... I crept out of bed, padding across the floorboards carefully to avoid waking my parents, and I looked out into the night. There was nothing to see, just the dark shapes of the trees moving fluidly in the breeze and the occasional flicker of a bat flitting across the full moon. There was no evidence to suggest a midnight visitor, but I could not let my heart sink, not now.

"Doctor Cullen?" I whispered once more.

Something moved in the trees beneath me, and I clamped a hand over my mouth to physically hold in my scream. A face appeared as a man stepped out of the shadows, a face that was almost familiar but not quite. Golden hair and golden eyes against porcelain-white skin made paler by the stark moonlight. It was not my doctor, but the similarities were too striking for this to be a coincidence.

"Miss Platt?" he asked in a low voice. "Esme Platt?"

I nodded dumbly, not trusting myself to open my mouth.

"My name is Jasper Whitlock. I am a friend of Carlisle Cullen. You remember him?"

How could I forget? I only realised that I had spoken the words aloud when Jasper smiled, quirking one eyebrow in a private joke. My previous fears melted, leaving only an unaccountable feeling of quiet tranquillity in their place.

"You are to be married tomorrow," he continued. I nodded, although it was a statement, not a question.

"How do you know?" I managed to ask. The engagement had been announced in the local papers some prior, but I had never seen this strange acquaintance in the area before, and his accent was indicative of a life in the Deep South.

"I have another friend. She... knows these things."He paused, and his eyes narrowed as he contemplated my face and, it appeared, my neck. When he spoke again, his voice was strained and urgent.

"I must leave now, but remember, it is not too late. You do not have to do this."

He disappeared into the darkness without another word, and I immediately let out the hacking cough that I had been suppressing, gripping the window frame so tightly that my knuckles went white. I grimaced at the sight of blood in my handkerchief, familiar though it was. I returned to bed, sighing heavily. Just when I thought I had a chance... Jasper was wrong. It was too late. Perhaps not too late to save me from my loveless marriage, but too late to save me from myself.

My parents had not found out the reason for my sudden capitulation after months of resisting their attempts to coerce me into wedlock with Charles. They weren't interested in my motivations, only relieved that I had finally 'seen sense' as they put it. It was old Dr Smyth's prognosis that had changed my mind for me. To be told that you are dying changes every perspective in life. As I stared at him, barely hearing his condolences, I had wondered if the words would have sounded as bad coming from my doctor, as I had come to call him. My angel with icy hands and eyes the colour of the sun. I had wondered if he could have softened the killing blow. I was still wondering when I had left, asking Dr Smyth not to tell my parents, that I did not want to cause them undue grief. I had decided to make them happy whilst I still could. After all, anyone could survive a month or so of marriage, couldn't they?

I could not hold back the tears that had been threatening to fall for the past few months any longer and I finally allowed myself to cry for the first time since that fateful appointment. I did not mind death; when my time came I would embrace it, revel in being free from the constant pain that turned my chest to iron. No, I did not fear death. It was life that I feared. I did not want to marry Charles Evenson. I had always dreamed that I would marry someone I truly loved, and who truly loved me in return, not some well-to-do man who saw me merely as a good investment. I was doing this for my parents, I reminded myself firmly, but a wave of despair still shook me. I had heard rumours, rumours that had evidently not yet reached my parents' ears, that Charles liked a drink, and that his usually placid nature revealed its true, violent colours once the liquor was flowing freely. At least I would only have a few weeks to endure it, if that. And if Jasper's words were true, perhaps I would not have to endure it at all... I shook myself out of that train of thought before settling down to sleep again, ignoring the clenching pain in my lungs. Tomorrow I would walk down the aisle, the make-believe smile on my face not quite reaching my eyes.

I wondered what Jasper had meant. If it really wasn't too late, what should I do? Choose my own happiness for my final days, or that of my parents? I could not sit back and see the people I loved unhappy, that was why I had decided to go through with this in the first place. At the same time, I could not simply give up hope. I had been hoping since the day he left. I could not stop hoping now. It could not be too late. Not yet....

* * *

"Can I have a few moments to myself, please?"

My father gave me a sympathetic smile and left me sitting on the little wooden bench outside the church, taking a minute to gather his own thoughts. He knew that I had been unable to escape the attentions of my mother and cousins once during the entire morning, and happy as he was that his only daughter was finally making a good match, he appreciated my need for contemplation.

I clenched my hands around my bouquet. What could I say to him? Sorry Pa, I'm having second thoughts because there is a slim chance that the doctor I fell in love with five years ago loves me back; I don't want to marry Charles and the only reason I am doing so is because in a few weeks I'll be gone and I wanted to make you happy? The more I reflected, the more the dull ache in my chest grew, unrelated to my illness. I had to go through with it. I couldn't forfeit everything on the whim of a dream, for I was now certain that was what Jasper's visit had been. When I had woken in the cold light of a grim, overcast day – the weather reflecting my morose despair – I was becoming more and more convinced that the entire episode had been the product of my imagination; that I had spent so long hoping, I had begun hallucinating.

"Don't you dare cough," a musical voice beside me scolded. "You'll ruin your dress."

I turned sharply to see a tiny young woman seated on the bench next to me. I had not heard her approach, and she must have seen the shock register in my face. She smiled brilliantly, and in that instant I recognised the same honey eyes that the men in my dreams had shared.

"No, I assure you, you are awake." Her strikingly short dark hair bounced around her head as she laughed, seeing me go to pinch myself. "Jasper really did come to visit you last night. It's a shame he had to leave so soon." She wrinkled her nose, but the only thing I could smell was the light, delicate scent of the roses in my bouquet. "Please don't cough," she repeated, a more pleading edge colouring her voice this time. I nodded, willing her to continue. "Still," she said brightly. "I can continue his message. You don't have to go through with this, you know. It's not too late. Believe me."

It all fell into place then.

"You're Jasper's friend," I muttered. "The one who knows these things."

"That's me." Her smile was dazzling, a flash of sunshine in this overcast day. "Alice Cullen. Jasper and I are Carlisle's adopted family. In a manner, at least. I suppose we adopted him more than anything." She seemed to fall to musing, laughing at a memory.

"Carlisle..." I couldn't stop my heart soaring. It was not too late. It could not be too late. "Is he here?"

I didn't know whether I wanted the answer or not. My deliberations were solved for me when Alice's face fell.

"No," she whispered. "No, he's not here now." Suddenly her eyes unfocussed, her whole body going rigid for a moment. "But he will be."

Her voice was so sure, so determined, and my heart trembled. I was at a loss. I wasn't ready for this. Five years of praying for a return that, now imminent, I was totally unprepared for. What would I say? What could I do?

"Esme?" my father's voice called timidly, not wanting to intrude upon my thoughts. "Esme, it's time."

I turned to Alice but she had gone, disappeared, to where I couldn't tell. I stood and rounded the corner, meeting my father outside the church doors. He smiled at me, happy, relieved. I took his offered arm and we entered into the foreboding chapel.

My mind was everywhere except where it should be. I couldn't concentrate on the music, on my mother's tears of joy, on the garlands that decorated the ends of the pews. A flash of gold caught my eye and I turned to see Alice and Jasper, half-concealed in the shadows at the back of the church. Alice smiled her dazzling smile once more and gave me a small wave. Jasper stayed perfectly still, his expression anything but comfortable. Soon, too soon, we were at the altar, and my father was placing my shaking hand into Charles' hot, clammy one. How I longed for cold hands to hold in that moment...

The minister began, and I felt a cold wave of dread run through my vains, followed by a warm one of calm. My pounding heart began to slow, although I was still afraid, still unsure of precisely what was going to occur.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today in the sight of God to witness the joining together of this man and this woman in holy matrimony..."

The creaking of the doors caused the minister to pause, and all faces except mine turned to the back. I couldn't look. What if all my hopes were dashed?

"Sorry."

The single word, its timbre so beautiful it could have been music, made me turn. He was there, my doctor, my angel. Carlisle. Our eyes connected for the briefest of seconds as the doors swung closed behind him before he moved away, sliding into a seat beside Alice, whose smile was positively luminescent.

The minister cleared his throat to recover from the interruption and continued. I heard nothing of what he said, my mind so full of questions. What happened now? Did I act, or would he? What would I do if I needed to speak, the lump in my throat a barrier to communication? Finally I focussed on the words of the service.

"If any man knows of any just cause or impediment why this man and this woman should not be joined in holy matrimony, may he speak now or forever hold his peace."

There was silence for a moment, and I found myself pleading in my head. It had come this far, my hopes could not be killed now...

I heard movement, footsteps, the gasps of the congregation. Beside me, Charles growled.

"Who _is_ this joker?"

I instinctively pulled my hand out of his slippery grasp, but he grabbed it again, his fingers like iron.

"Dr Cullen?" the minister asked, confusion apparent in his voice. "Is that you? What is your objection?"

I turned, my heart flying.

"Listen here, _doctor_," Charles began, but Carlisle held up a hand to stop him. He turned to me.

"Esme?"

I needed no further encouragement. Everything I needed to hear was in that one word, my name. Love, hope... I wrenched myself free of Charles' grip and ran down the aisle into Carlisle's waiting arms.

"I love you," I whispered, and although barely any sound came out, he heard me as if I was the only person within a mile.

"I know," he said. "I love you too."

The uproar around us at this unorthodox turn of events was indescribable, but I was blind to it all.

"Come back here!" Charles roared above the crowd. "Come back here and marry me you little whore!"

There was a shocked silence.

"I beg your pardon. What did you just call my daughter?"

I looked away from Carlisle long enough to watch in wonder as my father hit my former betrothed squarely in the jaw.

"Gentlemen, please!" cried the minister. "This is a house of God!"

"Told you so," came a melodic trill in my ear. Alice and Jasper had joined us, unnoticed as the guests shouted and scrambled to see the altercation at the altar.

"I advise an inconspicuous exit," murmured Jasper.

I nodded, but before I could move, my knees gave way, sudden lightheadedness overwhelming me. Carlisle swung me up into his arms effortlessly, and over his shoulder I caught a glimpse of my mother, deep in the argument between Charles' family and mine. She found my gaze and smiled, tears in her eyes as she mouthed two words to me.

_Be happy._

I smiled in return, but I could suppress my cough no longer. I only had time to marvel at the beauty of the pattern of blood spots over Carlisle's collar before I surrendered to the oncoming swoon....

* * *

The room was warm, and I could make out two now familiar voices.

"I'm sorry Carlisle. I didn't realise that it was going to be so soon... I should have seen..." Alice sounded distraught.

"It's all right Alice. You can't see everything." Carlisle paused. "How long does she have left?"

I was dying. Up until the moment I had thrown off my ideas of marrying for the good of my parents, I had been prepared for this. Now, however, with circumstances so nearly-perfect, I was scared, unready, unwilling to let go.

"An hour at most." An hour? I thought I'd have a few days at least. So little time... "Carlisle, I'm so sorry."

"Don't fret Alice. You did wonderfully today. Go and find Jasper. She's coming round now."

I heard a door open and close, and I opened my eyes.

"Such irony," I gasped, each breath so painful to take. "I wait for you to come back to me, and once you do, I slip away."

His cold fingertips were wonderfully soothing against my flushed cheek.

"There is another way," he said. "There is a way I can save you." He paused, and I could sense his discomfort with his own suggestion. "Your life... you would not be the same as before... everything would be very different."

"I don't care," I murmured, fighting the blackness. "As long as I have you..."

I closed my eyes, unable to battle any more. I could feel myself drifting as he brushed his lips against my forehead.

"You will always have me, Esme. I promise." He touched my neck. "I'm so sorry."

I felt a sharp pain where his fingertips had been only seconds before, and as the darkness became absolute, I heard the words I had awaited for five agonising years.

"I'll stay with you forever."

**FIN**

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**Author's Note: **Please review! Like I said, this idea walked into my head already completed, but I have been thinking about adding another chapter, switching between the points of view of Carlisle, Alice and Jasper as they go through the visions and visits that led to this ending. Please say if you'd like to read that.


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